Switching functions for mobile payments system

ABSTRACT

A method includes receiving an information translation request, where the request is for translation of an account holder&#39;s mobile telephone number into the account holder&#39;s payment card account number. The request is related to a purchase transaction. A database is accessed to identify the account holder&#39;s service provider and a transaction acceptance request is transmitted to the service provider. The service provider provides an indication that the account holder has accepted the transaction, and the account holder&#39;s mobile telephone number is then translated into the payment card account number, which is then transmitted in response to the information translation request.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patentapplication Ser. No. 61/179,200, filed May 18, 2009, which isincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

Embodiments disclosed herein relate to payment systems. In particular,some embodiments relate to methods, apparatus, systems, means andcomputer program products for implementing a mobile payment system onthe basis of a payment card system.

Payment card systems are in widespread use. A prominent payment cardsystem is operated by the assignee hereof, MasterCard InternationalIncorporated, and by its member financial institutions. There have beenproposals to permit access to payment card systems via an accountholder's mobile telephone. Some embodiments of such a mobile paymentssystem are described in prior and commonly-assigned U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/323,016, filed Nov. 25, 2008.

The present inventors now disclose embodiments of a mobile paymentssystem that facilitates participation by a number of mobile paymentplatform service providers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Features and advantages of some embodiments of the present invention,and the manner in which the same are accomplished, will become morereadily apparent upon consideration of the following detaileddescription of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, which illustrate preferred and exemplary embodiments and whichare not necessarily drawn to scale, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram that illustrates a roster of participants in amobile payments system provided in accordance with aspects of thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a computer that is operated by or on behalfof a data processing center/switching platform that is a part of thesystem of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a computer that is operated by or on behalfof a mobile payment platform service provider/acquiring financialinstitution (FI) in the system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a computer that is operated by or on behalfof an acquiring financial institution in the system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram that illustrates interactions among systemparticipants in connection with a remote purchase transaction.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart that illustrates a process that may be performedin the system of FIG. 1 to implement a remote purchase transaction inaccordance with aspects of the present invention.

FIGS. 7A, 7B and 7C are example screen displays provided on a user'smobile telephone in connection with the remote purchase transactiondepicted in FIGS. 5 and 6.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram that illustrates interactions among systemparticipants in connection with a purchase transaction initiated from auser's mobile telephone.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart that illustrates a process that may be performedin the system of FIG. 1 in connection with the customer-initiatedpurchase transaction of FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart that illustrates a process that may be performedin the system of FIG. 1 in connection with a mobile bill paymenttransaction.

FIGS. 11A, 11B and 11C are example screen displays provided on a user'smobile telephone in connection with the mobile bill payment transactiondepicted in FIG. 10.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In general, and for the purpose of introducing concepts of embodimentsof the present invention, a mobile payments system uses a payment cardsystem as a backbone. Several mobile payment platform service providers(hereinafter sometimes referred to as MPPs) participate in the mobilepayments system. Users of the system are each enrolled with one of themobile payment platform service providers. The mobile payment platformservice providers handle authentication and user confirmation ofapproval for each transaction by challenging the user via the user'smobile telephone to enter a mobile PIN (personal identification number)and verifying that the user has entered the PIN correctly.

Another participant in the mobile payments system is a data processingcenter which also provides switching functions among acquiring financialinstitutions and mobile payment platform service providers. For example,when a mobile payment transaction enters the system via an acquirer, theacquirer sends a message to the data processing center/switchingplatform, which in turn requests that the purchaser's MPP obtainapproval from and authenticate the purchaser via the purchaser's mobiletelephone. The data processing center/switching platform also translatesthe purchaser's mobile telephone number into the purchaser's paymentcard account number and provides the account number and relatedinformation to the acquirer.

Further, when a transaction comes into the system via a request from apurchaser's mobile telephone, the purchaser's MPP may send a message tothe data processing center/switching platform to request that the dataprocessing center/switching platform identify and switch the transactionto the acquiring FI for a merchant that is specified in the purchaser'srequest.

(As is well known, the acquirer FI is the organization that transmits apurchase transaction to a payment card system for routing to the issuerof the payment card account in question. Typically, the acquirer FI hasan agreement with merchants, wherein the acquirer FI receivesauthorization requests for purchase transactions from the merchants, androutes the authorization requests to the issuers of the payment cards tobe used for the purchase transactions. In some cases, the acquirer FImay contract out transaction handling services to a third party serviceprovider. As used in this disclosure and the appended claims, “acquirerFI” includes both such FIs and third party service providers undercontract to such FIs. The terms “acquirer”, “acquirer FI” and “acquiringFI” will be used interchangeably herein. The terms “issuer”, “issuer FI”and “issuing FI” will also be used interchangeably herein to refer tothe FI that issued a payment card account to an account/card holder.)

FIG. 1 is a block diagram that illustrates a roster of participants in amobile payments system 100 provided in accordance with aspects of thepresent invention. Block 102 in FIG. 1 represents individual users ofthe mobile payments system 100. Users 102 hold payment card accounts andare subscribers to mobile telephone services provided by mobile networkoperators (MNOs) 104. The users 102 will henceforth most frequently bereferred to as “account holders”. Each account holder 102 has become aparticipant in the mobile payments system 100 by enrolling with one ofthe mobile payment platform service providers (MPPs) indicated by block106.

Another participant in the mobile payments system 100 is theabove-mentioned data processing center/switching platform, indicated byblock 108. In addition, the mobile payments system 100 includesacquiring FIs 110.

The mobile payments system 100 also includes a payment system 112 andpayment card account issuers 114.

The payment system 112 may operate in a conventional manner. An exampleof a suitable payment system is the “Banknet” system operated byMasterCard International Inc., the assignee hereof. As is well-known bythose who are skilled in the art, the payment system 112 routes purchasetransaction authorization requests from acquirers 110 to issuers 114,and routes purchase transaction authorization responses back from theissuers 114 to the acquirers 110. A separate system for clearingpurchase transactions may also be provided by the operator of thepayment system 112 but is not indicated herein in the interests ofsimplifying the drawing.

The issuers 114 are financial institutions that issue the payment cardaccounts held by the account holders 102. The issuers 114 may operate ina conventional manner to receive authorization requests via the paymentsystem 112 and to transmit authorization responses back to acquirers viathe payment system 112.

From previous discussion, it will be appreciated that merchants,represented by block 116, have relationships with acquirers 110, whichsubmit transactions to the payment system 112 on behalf of the merchants116.

Each of the blocks shown in FIG. 1 may also be considered to representone or more computers operated by or on behalf of the respectiveparticipant to perform the participant's functions in the mobilepayments system 100, as described herein (except that the accountholders 102 will be understood as not necessarily operating computers,but as users of mobile telephones that are employed to access servicesprovided in the mobile payments system 100). Each of the computers mayhave a hardware architecture in accordance with the block diagramspresented herein as FIGS. 2-4.

In some embodiments, account holders 102 may participate in the mobilepayments system 100 based on payment card accounts (e.g., debit orcredit card accounts) issued to them by issuers 114. In addition oralternatively, in some embodiments the issuers issue only virtualpayment card accounts to account holders for use in the mobile paymentssystem 100. For a virtual payment card account, the issuer 114 mayrefrain from issuing a payment card or other physical storage medium forthe payment card account number to the account holder 102. The paymentcard account number and the expiration date for the virtual payment cardaccount may be known to the account holder 102, but in some embodimentsthe issuer 114 may not disclose a security code such as a CVC2 to theaccount holder 102.

The issuer 114 may use a secure data communication channel or othersecure data transfer mechanism (e.g., secure shipment or courierdelivery of data storage media) to provide data concerning the accountholder 102 to the data processing center/switching platform 108. Suchdata may include the account holder's mobile telephone number, andpayment card account number, as well as the expiration date and securitycode for the payment card account. The data processing center/switchingplatform 108 then creates a data record for the account holder 102.

A remote payments application program may be stored on the accountholder's mobile telephone (not shown in FIG. 1) to allow the accountholder 102 to participate in the mobile payments system 100 via his/hermobile telephone. There may be various GSM technologies to be used toenable customers to use mobile payments, i.e., SIM toolkit, Java, USSDand others.

The account holder 102 may be required to correctly enter a mobile PIN(M-PIN) in order to access the remote payments application. The remotepayments application may, for example, have been loaded into the SIMcard of the account holder's mobile telephone by or on behalf of the MNO104 which provides mobile telephone service to the account holder 102.(In some embodiments, the remote payments application may have beensupplied to the MNO by an MPP.) For example, in the process of supplyingthe SIM card to the MNO 104, the supplier of the SIM card may installthe remote payments application in the SIM card. Alternatively, if theSIM card has already been installed in the account holder's mobiletelephone, the MNO 104 (or an MPP 106) may download the remote paymentsapplication to the SIM card via an OTA (over the air) data communicationsession between the account holder's mobile telephone and a computeroperated by or on behalf of the MNO 104 (or the MPP 106).

In some embodiments, the account holder may enter his/her M-PIN toactivate the remote payments application on his/her mobile telephone,and may then interact with one of the MPPs 106 to enroll as aparticipant in the mobile payments system 100. For this purpose, the MPP106 may store a data record for the account holder 102, including theaccount holder's M-PIN and mobile telephone number. Communicationsbetween the MPP 106 and the remote payments application may be encryptedto prevent the account holder's M-PIN from being compromised.

Once the account holder 102 has enrolled with an MPP 106, the MPP 106may inform the data processing center/switching platform 108 of theenrollment of the account holder 102. As a result, the data processingcenter/switching platform 108 may update the data record for the accountholder to associate the account holder's mobile telephone number with acode which identifies the particular MPP 106 with which the accountholder 102 has enrolled.

In some embodiments, there may be three layers of encryption employedfor transaction messaging between the account holder's mobile telephoneand the account holder's MPP, with a goal of providing full end-to-endchannel security. Within the mobile telephone, when the account holderenters his/her M-PIN it is sent directly to a remote payment applicationresiding in the secure area of the SIM card in the mobile telephone. TheM-PIN may be encrypted via a one-time password for the currenttransaction (e.g., in accordance with 3DES) and inserted in encryptedform into the transaction message. Further, the remote paymentapplication may encrypt the entire transaction message utilizing atransaction key. Still further, the remote payment application mayinsert the transaction message (including the encrypted M-PIN, ifrequired) into a properly formatted message (e.g. SMS), and then mayencrypt the message according to the MNO's standards for transmissionover the mobile telephone's radio link.

Upon receiving the message, the MNO radio base station may decrypt themessage and route it to the MPP computer. The result of the decryptionis a clear text header concatenated with the encrypted transactionmessage. The message is routed through the MNO's core network from theMNO base station to the MNO server (e.g., an SMS server). The MNO serverswitches the encrypted transaction message to the MPP computer.

At the MPP computer the transaction message may be decrypted and routedto the MPP service function. Then the M-PIN is decrypted and routed forverification.

In some embodiments, the triple level security may be reserved forhigher value and/or higher risk transactions and some or all of thesecurity steps may be omitted for lower value and/or lower risktransactions.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a computer 108 that is operated by or onbehalf of the data processing center/switching platform.

The data processing center/switching platform computer 108 may beconventional in its hardware aspects but may be controlled by softwareto cause it to operate in accordance with aspects of the presentinvention.

The data processing center/switching platform computer 108 may include acomputer processor 200 operatively coupled to a communication device201, a storage device 204, an input device 206 and an output device 208.

The computer processor 200 may be constituted by one or moreconventional processors. Processor 200 operates to executeprocessor-executable steps, contained in program instructions describedbelow, so as to control the data processing center/switching platformcomputer 108 to provide desired functionality.

Communication device 201 may be used to facilitate communication with,for example, other devices such as computers operated by the MPPs 106and the acquirers 110. Communication device 201 may, for example, havecapabilities for engaging in data communication over conventionalcomputer-to-computer data networks.

Input device 206 may comprise one or more of any type of peripheraldevice typically used to input data into a computer. For example, theinput device 206 may include a keyboard and a mouse. Output device 208may comprise, for example, a display and/or a printer.

Storage device 204 may comprise any appropriate information storagedevice, including combinations of magnetic storage devices (e.g.,magnetic tape and hard disk drives), optical storage devices such as CDsand/or DVDs, and/or semiconductor memory devices such as Random AccessMemory (RAM) devices and Read Only Memory (ROM) devices, as well asso-called flash memory. Any one or more of the listed storage devicesmay be referred to as a “memory” or a “storage medium” or a “computerusable medium”.

Storage device 204 stores one or more programs for controlling processor200. The programs comprise program instructions that containprocessor-executable process steps of data processing center/switchingplatform computer 108, including, in some cases, process steps thatconstitute processes provided in accordance with principles of thepresent invention, as described in more detail below. The programinstructions may also be referred to as “computer readable program codemeans”.

The programs may include an application 210 that controls the dataprocessing center/switching platform computer 108 for purposes ofengaging in data communications with other computers, includingcomputers referred to hereinabove.

The storage device 204 may also store an application 212 for controllingthe data processing center/switching platform computer 108 to handlerequests received from computers operated by MPPs and/or acquirers.Details of request handling provided by the data processingcenter/switching platform computer 108 in accordance with aspects of thepresent invention will be provided below.

Another application that may be stored by the storage device 204 isindicated by reference numeral 214 and is for managing databases thatare referred to below. The application program 214 receives accountholder and/or merchant information from MPPs and/or acquirers andupdates the corresponding databases with the received information.

Reference numeral 216 in FIG. 2 identifies an account holder databasemaintained by the data processing center/switching platform computer 108and stored on the storage device 204. For example, the account holderdatabase may include, for each participating account holder, the accountholder's name, mobile telephone number, payment card account number,payment card account expiration date, and payment card account securitycode (e.g., a CVC2). In addition, the entry in the database 216 for agiven account holder may include data that indicates with which MPP theaccount holder is enrolled.

The storage device 204 may also store a merchant database 218. Themerchant database 218 may include an entry for each merchant 116 thatparticipates in the mobile payments system 100 (or at least for a subsetof the merchants 116), and may indicate for each merchant 116 theidentity of the merchant's acquiring FI 110.

The application programs of the data processing center/switchingplatform computer 108, as described above, may be combined in someembodiments, as convenient, into one, two or more application programs.Moreover, the storage device 204 may store other programs, such as oneor more operating systems, device drivers, web hosting software, etc.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a computer that is operated by or on behalfof an MPP 106 in the mobile payments system 100.

The hardware architecture of the MPP computer 106 may be conventionaland may be the same as that of the data processing center/switchingplatform computer 108. Thus, the above description of the hardwareaspects of the data processing center/switching platform computer 108 isequally applicable to the hardware aspects of the MPP computer 106.Nevertheless, the following description is provided to summarize thehardware components of the MPP computer 106.

The MPP computer 106 may include a processor 300 that is incommunication with a communication device 301, a storage device 304, aninput device 306 and an output device 308. The storage device 304 maystore an application program 310 that controls the MPP computer 106 forpurposes of engaging in data communications with other computers,including computers referred to hereinabove such as the data processingcenter/switching platform computer 108.

Further, the storage device 304 may store an application program 312which controls the MPP computer 106 to handle requests for transactionsreceived from account holders via the account holders' mobile telephonesand requests for account holder approval and authentication receivedfrom the data processing center/switching platform computer 108. Detailsof operation of the request handling application program will bedescribed below.

Another application that may be stored by the storage device 304 isindicated by reference numeral 314 and is for managing a customerdatabase that is discussed below. For example, the application program314 may receive information from customers (account holders) who enrollfor mobile payments services with the MPP which operates the MPPcomputer 106, and this information may be stored in a customer database316 which is also stored by the storage device 304.

Moreover, the storage device 304 may store other programs, such as oneor more operating systems, device drivers, web hosting software, etc.and may also store one or more other databases, such as a transactiondatabase, which is not shown.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a computer that is operated by or on behalfof an acquirer 110 in the mobile payments system 100.

The hardware architecture of the acquirer computer 110 may beconventional and may be the same as that of the data processingcenter/switching platform computer 108 and/or the MPP computer 106.Thus, the above description of the hardware aspects of the dataprocessing center/switching platform computer 108 is equally applicableto the hardware aspects of the acquirer computer 110. Nevertheless, thefollowing description is provided to summarize the hardware componentsof the acquirer computer 110.

The acquirer computer 110 may include a processor 400 that is incommunication with a communication device 401, a storage device 404, aninput device 406 and an output device 408. The storage device 404 maystore an application program 410 that controls the acquirer computer 110for purposes of engaging in data communications with other computers,including computers referred to hereinabove such as the data processingcenter/switching platform computer 108 and one or more computers thatare part of the payment system 112.

In addition, the storage device 404 may store an application program 412which controls the acquirer computer 110 to handle transactionsrequested by merchants 116. In part, the acquirer computer 110 mayhandle transactions in a conventional manner with respect to paymentsystem 112. In other respects, including aspects of transactions thatrequire the acquirer computer 110 to interact with the data processingcenter/switching platform computer 108, the transaction handlingapplication program 412 may function in accordance with aspects of thepresent invention and as described in further detail below.

Another application that may be stored by the storage device 404 isindicated by reference numeral 414 and is for managing a merchantdatabase which is discussed below. For example, the application program414 may receive information concerning merchants that enter intoagreements under which the acquirer 110 is to serve as the merchants'contractor for submitting transactions to the payment system 112.

Also stored in the storage device 404 is a merchant database 416, inwhich the acquirer computer 110 stores information relating to themerchants 116 for which the acquirer computer 110 submits purchasetransactions to the payment system 112.

Moreover, the storage device 404 may store other programs, such as oneor more operating systems, device drivers, web hosting software, etc.,and may also store one or more other databases, such as a transactiondatabase, which is not shown.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram that illustrates interactions amongparticipants in the mobile payments system 100 in connection with aremote purchase transaction. A process for performing such a transactionwill be described in some detail below in connection with FIG. 6, butfirst the participant interactions will be briefly described withreference to FIG. 5.

From the point of view of the mobile payments system 100, the purchasetransaction may be initiated by a transaction request sent to anacquirer 110 from a merchant 116. In order to obtain the accountholder's approval and also to obtain the account holder's payment cardaccount number, the acquirer 110 sends a message to the data processingcenter/switching platform computer 108. The message from the acquirer110 to the data processing center/switching platform computer 108includes the account holder's mobile telephone number. In response toreceiving the message, the data processing center/switching platformcomputer 108 contacts the account holder's MPP 106, which in turninteracts with the account holder's mobile telephone 402 to request theaccount holder to approve the transaction and to authenticatehimself/herself by entering his/her mobile PIN. Assuming that approvaland authentication duly take place, the account holder's MPP 106 sends amessage to that effect to the data processing center/switching platformcomputer 108. The data processing center/switching platform computer 108then translates the account holder's mobile telephone number into theaccount holder's payment card account number and transmits the accountholder's payment card account number and other information to theacquirer 110. The acquirer 110 then uses the account holder's paymentcard account number to submit a purchase transaction authorizationrequest to the account holder's payment card account issuer 114 via thepayment system 112. The issuer's authorization response is routed to theacquirer 110 via the payment system 112, and if the authorizationresponse indicates approval of the transaction, the acquirer 110confirms to the merchant 116 that the transaction was successful. Inaddition, the acquirer requests the data processing center/switchingplatform computer 108 to forward confirmation of the transaction'ssuccess to the account holder's mobile telephone 402 via the accountholder's MPP 106.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart that illustrates a process that may be performedin the mobile payments system 100 in accordance with aspects of thepresent invention to implement the remote purchase transaction depictedin FIG. 5.

For purposes of this discussion, it is assumed that the account holderwishes to use the mobile payments system 100 to effect a purchasetransaction via an e-commerce website. In this context, it will beunderstood that the e-commerce website may be operated by a merchant 116that is a participant in the mobile payments system 100. The accountholder 102 may use a personal computer (not shown), notebook computer(not shown) or web-enabled PDA or smart mobile telephone to interactwith the merchant's e-commerce website. The interaction between theaccount holder 102 and the merchant's e-commerce website is representedby block 602 in FIG. 6. As part of the interaction, the account holder102 may select one or more items for purchase from the website and thenmay elect to “check out”. The website may total the proposed purchasetransaction and present a number of payment options to the accountholder 102, including a “mobile payments” option. (Other options mayinclude, e.g., conventional credit or debit card payment, payment via aservice like “Paypal”, etc.) For present purposes it is assumed that theaccount holder 102 selects the “mobile payments” option. The websitethen prompts the account holder 102 to enter his/her mobile telephonenumber into the page presented on the website. It is assumed that theaccount holder 102 does so.

Next, at 604 in FIG. 6, the merchant 116 submits an authorizationrequest for the proposed purchase transaction to the merchant'sacquiring financial institution 110. This authorization request differsfrom a conventional payment card system authorization request in that itincludes the purchaser's mobile telephone number rather than thepurchaser's payment card account number. Thus, the acquirer needs toobtain the purchaser/account holder's payment card account number inorder to introduce the authorization request into the payment system112. In addition, approval of the transaction by the account holder andauthentication of the account holder must be accomplished.

At 606 in FIG. 6, the acquirer computer 110 transmits, to the dataprocessing center/switching platform computer 108 (and the dataprocessing center/switching platform computer 108 receives), a requestmessage to request that the data processing center/switching platformcomputer 108 switch the transaction to the account holder's MPP 106 toobtain the account holder's approval for the transaction. The requestmessage also is for the purpose of requesting that the data processingcenter/switching platform computer 108 translate the account holder'smobile telephone number into the account holder's payment card accountnumber. It will be understood that the request from the acquirercomputer 110 to the data processing center/switching platform computer108 includes the account holder's mobile telephone number. This requestmay be referred to as an information translation request.

At 608 in FIG. 6, and in response to receiving the request from theacquirer's computer, the data processing center/switching platformcomputer 108 uses the account holder's mobile telephone number to lookup the relevant record in the account holder database 216 (FIG. 2) todetermine which MPP in the mobile payments system 100 serves the accountholder. At 610, the data processing center/switching platform computer108 sends a request to the MPP computer 106 operated by or on behalf ofthe account holder's MPP to request that the account holder's approvalbe obtained for the transaction. This request may be referred to as atransaction acceptance request.

At 612, the MPP computer 106 operated by or on behalf of the accountholder's MPP may issue a challenge to the account holder's mobiletelephone 402. In some embodiments, the challenge may take the form of atext message sent by the MPP computer 106 to the account holder's mobiletelephone 402. In other embodiments, the challenge may take the form ofinitiating a telephone call (e.g., by an automatic device such as aninteractive voice response—IVR—unit associated with/incorporated in theMPP computer 106) to the account holder's mobile telephone 402.

In some embodiments, the MPP computer 106 may interact with the paymentapplication running in the account holder's mobile telephone 402 via OTAdata communications such that the payment application causes the accountholder's mobile telephone 402 to display information to implement thechallenge. FIG. 7A is an example screen display that may be displayed bythe account holder's mobile telephone 402 to indicate the challenge tothe account holder. Referring to FIG. 7A, at 702 the screen displayindicates to the account holder the merchant on whose behalf approval ofthe transaction is being requested. At 704, the amount of thetransaction is indicated. Soft key label 706 indicates that the accountholder is to actuate the left soft key (not shown) to indicate approvalof the transaction. Soft key label 708 indicates that the account holderis to actuate the right soft key (not shown) to decline the transaction.

Assuming that the account holder indicates approval of the transaction,then the payment application may next cause the account holder's mobiletelephone 402 to display the screen display shown in FIG. 7B. It will berecognized that the screen display shown in FIG. 7B prompts the accountholder to enter his/her M-PIN. Upon the account holder having done so,the payment application may cause the account holder's mobile telephone402 to transmit an indication of approval of the transaction and theentered M-PIN to the MPP computer 106.

(In some embodiments, a mobile device other than a mobile telephone mayparticipate in the challenge and response functions described herein.For example, the challenge may alternatively be issued to a PDA(personal digital assistant) with mobile communication capabilities thatis registered to the account holder in question. For example, thechallenge may take the form of an electronic mail message to the mobiledevice. In other embodiments, the challenge and response may beperformed in a mobile messaging session between the mobiledevice/telephone and the MPP computer 106. The mobile device/telephonemay have been programmed with a suitable application program to supportreceiving and responding to challenges from the MPP computer 106.)

In some embodiments, the challenge prompts the account holder to enter amobile PIN (M-PIN) into the account holder's mobile telephone 402 and totransmit the M-PIN (e.g., via a text message, or via keypad entry inresponse to a query from an IVR unit, etc.) to the MPP computer 106. (Ina preferred embodiment, the M-PIN must be manually entered into theaccount holder's mobile telephone 402 by the account holder in responseto the challenge, and is not stored in the mobile telephone. In someembodiments, the M-PIN may be encrypted by the account holder's mobiletelephone 402 before it is transmitted to the MPP computer 106. In someembodiments, the account holder may have the option of declining thetransaction instead of entering the M-PIN in response to the challenge.)

A decision block 614 follows block 612. At decision block 614, the MPPcomputer 106 operated by or on behalf of the account holder's MPPdetermines whether the account holder has responded to the challenge ina timely manner by correctly inputting his/her M-PIN. If not, then theMPP computer 106 operated by or on behalf of the account holder's MPPmay abort the transaction, as indicated at 616. To do so, the MPPcomputer 106 operated by or on behalf of the account holder's MPP maysend a suitable message to the data processing center/switching platformcomputer 108. The data processing center/switching platform computer108, in turn, may send a message to the acquirer computer 110 toindicate that transaction approval and/or account holder authenticationfailed. The acquirer computer 110 may then provide a negativeauthorization response to the merchant 116. The merchant 116 in turn, byits website, may notify the account holder that authorization of thetransaction did not occur.

In cases where the MPP computer 106 operated by or on behalf of theaccount holder's MPP determines that the account holder timely inputtedhis/her M-PIN, then block 618 follows decision block 614. At block 618,the MPP computer 106 operated by or on behalf of the account holder'sMPP sends a message to the data processing center/switching platformcomputer 108 to indicate that the account holder approved thetransaction and was authenticated. Then, at 620, the data processingcenter/switching platform computer 108 receives the message from the MPPcomputer 106 and responds to receiving the message by accessing theaccount holder database 216 (FIG. 2) and using the account holder'smobile telephone number to determine the account holder's payment cardaccount number, which the data processing center/switching platformcomputer 108 transmits in a message to the acquirer computer 110. Block622 in FIG. 7 represents the acquirer computer 110 receiving the accountholder's payment card account number from the data processingcenter/switching platform computer 108 (which transmitted the paymentcard account number to the acquirer's computer). The same message fromthe data processing center/switching platform computer 108 to theacquirer computer 110 also implicitly or explicitly indicates to theacquirer computer 110 that account holder approval and authenticationhave occurred. The acquirer computer 110 may also receive from the dataprocessing center/switching platform computer 108 (and the dataprocessing center/switching platform computer 108 may send to theacquirer computer 110) certain additional information. The additionalinformation may include, for example, a security code (e.g., a CVC2) forthe account holder's payment card account and the expiration date forthe account holder's payment card account The information may alsoinclude the account holder's name. (This information may also have beenstored in the account holder database 216 in the data processingcenter/switching platform computer 108 in association with the accountholder's mobile telephone number. The data processing center/switchingplatform computer 108 may have looked up the additional information atthe same time it translated the account holder's mobile telephone numberinto the account holder's payment card account number.) Accordingly, theacquirer computer 110 now has all the information it needs to generate aconventional payment card system transaction authorization request.

Block 624 in FIG. 6 represents the acquirer computer 110 generating thetransaction authorization request and transmitting the authorizationrequest to the payment system 112 (FIG. 5). At 626, the payment system112 routes the authorization request in a conventional manner to theissuer 114 of the account holder's payment card account. At 628, theissuer 114 generates an authorization response in a conventional mannerto indicate whether the transaction is authorized. For example, theissuer 114 may determine whether the payment card account indicated bythe payment card account number included in the authorization request isin good standing and has sufficient funds or available credit to coverthe requested transaction. If so, the authorization response indicatesthat the transaction is authorized. In accordance with conventionalpractices, the issuer 114 transmits the authorization response to thepayment system 112. At 630, the payment system 112 routes theauthorization response to the acquirer computer 110 in a conventionalmanner.

At 632, the acquirer computer 110 sends the authorization response tothe merchant 116. It will be assumed that the authorization response ispositive, and that the proposed e-commerce transaction is consummated.The merchant e-commerce website may so indicate to the account holder.In addition, and as indicated at 634, the acquirer computer 110 may senda confirmation message to the data processing center/switching platformcomputer 108 to indicate that the transaction has been successfullycompleted. At 636, the data processing center/switching platformcomputer 108 relays the confirmation message to the account holder'sMPP. At 638, the account holder's MPP provides the confirmation messageto the account holder's mobile telephone 402. This may result in theaccount holder's mobile telephone 402 displaying a screen display likethat shown in FIG. 7C.

From the point of view of the account holder, the transaction processesdescribed above with reference to FIGS. 5, 6 and 7A-7C may beadvantageous in that the account holder does not need to provide his/herpayment card account number to the merchant in order to make an onlinepurchase. Accordingly, the account holder does not need to depend on themerchant's reliability or data security measures to safeguard theaccount holder's payment card account number. Instead, the accountnumber remains, with a high degree of safety, within the control of thedata processing center/switching platform computer 108, the merchant'sacquiring financial institution, the payment system and the accountholder's account issuing financial institution. Furthermore, the mobilepayments system 100 provides two-factor security against attempts towrongfully use the account holder's mobile telephone number for atransaction. The two factors consist of the requirements both that theperson requesting the transaction have possession of the accountholder's mobile telephone and that the person requesting the transactionknow the account holder's M-PIN.

From a system point of view, the architecture reflected in FIGS. 1 and 5may be advantageous in that several MPPs may participate in the mobilepayments system without being required to set up compatible datainterfaces with each other. Rather, the MPPs only have to meet thecompatibility standards for the data processing center/switchingplatform computer 108.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram that illustrates interactions among systemparticipants in connection with a purchase transaction initiated from anaccount holder's mobile telephone 402. After a brief description of theinteractions with reference to FIG. 8, a more detailed description of aprocess for performing the transaction will be provided with referenceto FIG. 9.

Referring then to FIG. 8, the purchase transaction may be initiated fromthe account holder's mobile telephone 402 based on information providedby a merchant. For example, the merchant may be a parking vendoroperating unattended parking payment terminals, and an identificationcode for one of the terminals may be displayed on the terminal. Theterminal identification code may function as a merchant identificationcode. The transaction request may include the merchant identificationcode and may be transmitted from the account holder's mobile telephone402 to the account holder's MPP 106. The MPP 106 may request that theaccount holder enter his/her M-PIN before proceeding with the requestedtransaction. The MPP 106 may then transmit a message to the dataprocessing center/switching platform computer 108 to request that thedata processing center/switching platform computer 108 switch thetransaction to the merchant's acquirer 110. The request from the MPP 106may include the merchant identification code, and the data processingcenter/switching platform computer 108 may use the merchantidentification code to identify the acquirer 110 who serves the merchantin question. The request from the MPP 106 may also include the accountholder's mobile telephone number, which the data processingcenter/switching platform computer 108 may use to look up the accountholder's payment card account number. The data processingcenter/switching platform computer 108 then sends a request to themerchant's acquirer 110 so that the acquirer initiates a payment cardsystem authorization request in favor of the merchant 116 and using theaccount holder's payment card account number. The acquirer 110 maysubmit the authorization request in a substantially conventional mannerto the account issuer 114 via the payment system 112. The authorizationresponse generated by the issuer 114 is routed to the acquirer 110 viathe payment system 112. The acquirer sends the authorization response tothe merchant 116 and also sends a confirmation message to the dataprocessing center/switching platform computer 108. The confirmationmessage is relayed to the account holder's mobile telephone 402 from thedata processing center/switching platform computer 108 via the accountholder's MPP 106.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart that illustrates a process that may be performedin the mobile payments system 100 in accordance with aspects of thepresent invention to implement the purchase transaction depicted in FIG.8.

For the example transaction to be described with reference to FIG. 9, itmay be assumed that the account holder/purchaser has interacted with, orat least viewed, a merchant device (not shown) such as an unattendedparking payment terminal, a ticket issuing machine, a vending machine,or the like. The merchant device or a notice posted near the merchantdevice may display a code that uniquely identifies the merchant devicein question as well as the merchant that operates the merchant device.

At 902 in FIG. 9, the account holder operates his/her mobile telephone402 to transmit a transaction request to the account holder's MPP 106(and more specifically to a computer operated by or on behalf of the MPP106). The transaction request may include the above-mentionedmerchant/machine code, as well as the account holder's mobile telephonenumber and the amount of the transaction.

At 904 in FIG. 9, the MPP computer 106 sends a request to the accountholder's mobile telephone 402 for the account holder to enter his/herM-PIN. Assuming that the account holder does so, the MPP computer 106next, as indicated at 906, transmits the transaction request to the dataprocessing center/switching platform computer 108. At 908, the dataprocessing center/switching platform computer 108 accesses the merchantdatabase 218 (FIG. 2) to identify the merchant in question as well asthe merchant's acquirer 110. In addition, at 910, the data processingcenter/switching platform computer 108 accesses the account holderdatabase 216, based on the account holder's mobile telephone number, tolook up the account holder's payment card account number.

At 912, the data processing center/switching platform computer 108transmits the transaction request to the merchant's acquirer (that is,to the acquirer's computer, or a computer operated on the acquirer'sbehalf), which the data processing center/switching platform computer108 had identified at 908. Included in the request as transmitted by thedata processing center/switching platform computer 108 are the accountholder's payment card account number and data that identifies themerchant. The request may also include other information, such as asecurity code (e.g., a CVC2) and the expiration date for the paymentcard account.

The acquirer computer 110 now has the necessary information forgenerating and transmitting a conventional payment card systemtransaction authorization request. As indicated at 914, the acquirercomputer 110 does so, transmitting the auth request to the paymentsystem 112. At 916, the payment system 112 routes the authorizationrequest in a conventional manner to the issuer 114 of the accountholder's payment card account.

At 918 the issuer 114 generates an authorization response in aconventional manner to indicate whether the transaction is authorized.For example, the issuer 114 may determine whether the payment cardaccount indicated by the payment card account number included in theauthorization request is in good standing and has sufficient funds oravailable credit to cover the requested transaction. If so, theauthorization response indicates that the transaction is authorized. Inaccordance with conventional practices, the issuer 114 transmits theauthorization response to the payment system 112. At 920 the paymentsystem routes the authorization response to the acquirer computer 110 ina conventional manner.

At 922, the acquirer computer 110 sends a message to the merchant (e.g.,to the above-mentioned merchant device) to advise the merchant that thetransaction has been authorized. The transaction is then consummated.For example, the merchant device may issue a ticket, or a parkingcredit, or dispense an item in the case of a vending transaction.

In addition, and as indicated at 924, the acquirer computer 110 may senda confirmation message to the data processing center/switching platformcomputer 108 to indicate that the transaction has been successfullycompleted. At 926, the data processing center/switching platformcomputer 108 relays the confirmation message to the account holder's MPP106. At 928, the account holder's MPP provides the confirmation messageto the account holder's mobile telephone 402.

In another example transaction, the mobile payments system 100 allowsthe account holder to receive notice of a bill via his/her mobiletelephone and to immediately accomplish payment of the bill via themobile payments system 100. The interactions among the parties in themobile payments system for this type of transaction may resemble theinteractions as mapped in FIG. 5, assuming that the merchant 116 shownin FIG. 5 is the party rendering the bill (or a billing informationaggregator that is acting on behalf of the party rendering the bill).

FIG. 10 is a flow chart that illustrates a process that may be performedin the mobile payments system 100 in accordance with aspects of thepresent invention to carry out a bill payment transaction.

At 1002 in FIG. 10, billing information is provided from the billingorganization (merchant) to the acquirer which serves the billingorganization. The billing organization may, for example, be a utilitycompany, a taxing authority, etc. The billing information may beprovided directly from the billing organization or via a billinginformation aggregator. The acquirer may have an ongoing relationshipwith the billing organization for the purpose of facilitating renderingand payment of bills for the billing organization. The billinginformation may be provided as a batch of information that relates tonumerous bills that are being rendered to individual customers by thebilling organization. However, the following description of an examplebill payment transaction will focus exclusively on a single bill that isbeing rendered to a single customer/account holder. For that customer,the bill in question takes the form of a notification to the customerthat the bill is being rendered.

At 1004, the acquirer computer 110 transmits, to the data processingcenter/switching platform computer 108, a request that the dataprocessing center/switching platform computer 108 switch the billissuance notification to the MPP which serves the recipient (accountholder) of the bill. In the request (as in the billing information) therecipient/account holder may be identified by his/her mobile telephonenumber.

At 1006, the data processing center/switching platform computer 108 usesthe account holder's mobile telephone number to look up the relevantrecord in the account holder database 216 (FIG. 2) to determine whichMPP serves the account holder. At 1008 the data processingcenter/switching platform computer 108 sends, to the account holder'sMPP, the billing information for the bill issuance notification to besent to the recipient/account holder.

At 1010, the computer 106 operated by or on behalf of the accountholder's MPP sends a message to or otherwise communicates with themobile telephone 402 operated by the recipient of the bill. The purposeof the message is to notify the recipient/account holder that the billhas been issued and to inquire as to whether the recipient/accountholder wishes to pay the bill via the mobile payments system 100. As aresult of the message from the MPP computer 106, the account holder'smobile telephone 402 may display to the account holder a screen displaylike that shown in FIG. 11A. Referring to FIG. 11A, reference numeral1102 indicates the notification message as to the issuance of the bill,and an inquiry as to whether the account holder wishes to pay the billvia his/her mobile telephone. Soft key label 1104 indicates that theaccount holder is to actuate the left soft key (not shown) to indicatethat he/she wishes to pay the bill via the mobile payments system. Softkey label 1106 indicates that the account holder is to actuate the rightsoft key (not shown) to decline paying the bill at this time.

Assuming that the account holder wishes to pay the bill at this time,then block 1012 occurs. At block 1012 the account holder actuates theleft soft key to indicate his/her desire to pay the bill, and theaccount holder mobile telephone 402 then displays a screen display suchas that shown in FIG. 11B, to prompt the account holder to enter his/herM-PIN. The account holder does so, and block 1014 follows. At block 1014the MPP computer 106 informs the data processing center/switchingplatform computer 108 that the bill recipient/account holder has electedto pay the bill and has been authenticated. Then, at 1016, the dataprocessing center/switching platform computer 108 accesses the accountholder database 216 (FIG. 2) using the account holder's mobile telephonenumber to determine the account holder's payment card account number.Block 1018 in FIG. 12 represents the acquirer computer 110 receiving theaccount holder's payment card account number from the data processingcenter/switching platform computer 108. The same message from the dataprocessing center/switching platform computer 108 to the acquirercomputer 110 may also include additional information, such as a securitycode and the payment card account expiration date.

The acquirer computer 110 may now proceed (block 1020, FIG. 10) togenerate and transmit (to the payment system 112) a substantiallyconventional transaction authorization request, in favor of the entitythat rendered the bill. That is, the acquirer computer 110 may nowperform the functions of a payment system acquirer for the entity thatrendered the bill.

At 1022, the payment system 112 routes the authorization request in aconventional manner to the issuer 114 of the account holder's paymentcard account. At 1024, the issuer 114 generates an authorizationresponse in a conventional manner. At 1026, the payment system 112routes the authorization response from the issuer 114 to the acquirercomputer 110.

Assuming the authorization response indicates authorization for the billpayment transaction, then at 1028 the acquirer computer 110 sends amessage to the entity that rendered the bill to indicate that the billhas been paid by the account holder via the mobile payments system 100.

At 1030 in FIG. 10, the acquirer computer 110 may send a confirmationmessage to the data processing center/switching platform computer 108 toindicate that the bill payment transaction has been performedsuccessfully. At 1032, the data processing center/switching platformcomputer 108 relays the confirmation message to the account holder'sMPP. At 1034, the account holder's MPP provides the confirmation messageto the account holder's mobile telephone 402. In response to thismessage, the account holder's mobile telephone 402 may then display ascreen display like that shown in FIG. 11C.

In some embodiments, even though a bill recipient/account holderdeclines to pay the bill at the time that his/her mobile telephonereceives the notification (and/or the bill recipient/account holder orthe mobile telephone is not available when the bill notification issent), the billing information may still be stored in the mobiletelephone and the bill recipient/account holder may decide at a latertime to pay the bill via his/her mobile telephone and the mobilepayments system 100. To do so, the account holder may select a billpayment function from a menu displayed by the mobile telephone and thenmay select a previously stored bill for payment. Next the account holdermay select an option to send a message to the account holder's MPP toindicate that the account holder wishes to pay the bill in question. Atthat point, the MPP may send a message back to the mobile telephonerequiring the account holder to confirm the desired bill payment and toenter his/her M-PIN. (Alternatively, entry of the M-PIN may occur priorto the mobile telephone sending the message to the MPP, and the messagemay include the M-PIN.)

From this point on the bill payment transaction may be handled similarlyto steps 1014-1034 in FIG. 10. The message from the mobile telephone tothe account holder's MPP may include information that indicates theidentity of the billing company's acquirer.

The transaction process illustrated in FIG. 6 may also be adapted tooperate to handle payment in an in-person purchase transaction. Forexample, the purchaser/account holder's mobile phone number may be inputby the merchant into a POS terminal, which then requests payment via atransaction in the mobile payments system 100. For example, the POSterminal may submit a transaction request to the acquirer 110 per block604 in FIG. 6.

In some embodiments, the mobile payments system 100 may supporttransactions for topping up mobile telephone service accounts. Forexample, in such a transaction the account holder may select a “mobiletop up” function offered as a menu option via the user interface onhis/her mobile telephone. In response to prompts from the mobiletelephone, the account holder may input into the mobile telephone thetelephone number for the account to be topped up and the amount of thetop up transaction. The mobile telephone then sends a message to theaccount holder's MPP to indicate the desired top up transaction. Themessage may also include the M-PIN, which the mobile telephone had alsoprompted the account holder to enter. The account holder's MPP mayverify that the M-PIN is correct, and next may request the dataprocessing center/switching platform computer to provide the accountholder's payment card account number and other related information. Uponreceiving this information from the data processing center/switchingplatform computer, the MPP, now acting as an acquirer, submits anauthorization request via the payment system. The payment system routesthe authorization request to the issuer of the account holder's paymentcard account. The issuer charges the payment card account and generatesan authorization response. The payment system routes the authorizationresponse to the MPP/acquirer. The MPP/acquirer notifies the accountholder's MNO of the top up transaction and also confirms to the accountholder that the top up has occurred. The MNO recharges the mobileservice account in question.

In still other embodiments, such a transaction may be initiated by theMNO sending a suitable notice/inquiry to the account holder to askwhether the account holder wishes to top up his/her mobile serviceaccount.

In other embodiments, the mobile payments system 100 may supportperson-to-person remittance transactions. For example, the accountholder may initiate such a transaction by selecting the correspondingfunction provided as a menu option by the user interface in his/hermobile telephone. The mobile telephone may prompt the account holder toenter the amount of the remittance and the mobile telephone number ofthe recipient of the remittance. In some embodiments, the account holdermay be required to input the recipient telephone number twice to preventinput errors in identifying the recipient. The mobile telephone thensends a message to the account holder's MPP to indicate the desiredremittance transaction. The MPP may respond by sending a message to theaccount holder's mobile telephone to indicate a fee that will be chargedfor the transaction. The account holder may operate his/her mobiletelephone to indicate acceptance of the fee and to input his/her M-PIN.The account holder's MPP may verify that the M-PIN is correct, and nextmay request the data processing center/switching platform computer toprovide the account holder's payment card account number and otherrelated information. Upon receiving this information from the dataprocessing center/switching platform computer, the MPP, now acting as anacquirer, submits an authorization request via the payment system. Thepayment system routes the authorization request to the issuer of theaccount holder's payment card account. The issuer charges the paymentcard account and generates an authorization response. The payment systemroutes the authorization response to the MPP/acquirer. Next the MPPrequests the data processing center/switching platform computer toarrange for the recipient's approval for the remittance transaction. Indoing so, the MPP provides the recipient's mobile telephone number tothe data processing center/switching platform computer. The dataprocessing center/switching platform computer determines the identity ofthe recipient's MPP and requests that the recipient's MPP obtain therecipient's approval. The recipient's MPP then sends a message to therecipient's mobile telephone requesting approval from the recipient andentry of the recipient's M-PIN. The recipient operates his/her mobiletelephone to indicate approval and to enter his/her M-PIN and therecipient's MPP verifies the recipient's M-PIN. Then the recipient's MPPinforms the data processing center/switching platform computer that therecipient has approved the remittance transaction. The data processingcenter/switching platform computer translates the recipient's mobiletelephone number into the recipient's payment card account number andsends the recipient's payment card account number and relatedinformation to the remittance sender's MPP, which will now act asacquirer for the second leg of the remittance. The sender's MPP sends anauthorization request for the transfer to the recipient's account to therecipient's payment card account issuer via the payment system. Therecipient's account issuer credits the remittance amount to therecipient's account and sends an authorization response to the sender'sMPP via the payment system. The sender's MPP sends a confirmationmessage to the remittance sender's mobile telephone to indicatesuccessful performance of the remittance transaction. In addition, thesender's MPP sends a confirmation message to the data processingcenter/switching platform computer, to be relayed to the recipient'smobile telephone. The latter confirmation message is thus sent from thedata processing center/switching platform computer to the recipient'sMPP and from the recipient's MPP to the recipient's mobile telephone.

In some embodiments, when the data processing center/switching platformcomputer receives a request from the acquirer, the data processingcenter/switching platform computer looks up the account holder's paymentcard account number before requesting that the account holder's MPPobtain approval for the transactions and authentication from the accountholder.

Some FIs that participate in the mobile payments system may do so inmore than one role. For example, some acquirers may also function asMPPs. To do so, in some embodiments, the FI in question may operate onecomputer to perform MPP functions and another computer to performacquirer functions. In other embodiments, the functions of the twocomputers referred to in the previous sentence may be performed by onecomputer. In some embodiments, when an acquirer is also an MPP, theacquirer and/or MPP computer may perform a function to determine whetherthe account holder for a proposed transaction is served by the FI as anMPP. In such cases, the transaction may be switched internally in the FIfrom its acquirer function to its MPP function to obtain account holderapproval and authentication without assistance from the data processingcenter/switching platform computer. However, even in these cases theacquirer may request the data processing center/switching platformcomputer to perform translation of the account holder's mobile telephonenumber into the account holder's payment card account number.

It may also be the case that an FI which serves as an acquirer alsofunctions as an issuer of payment card accounts. Further, in someembodiments, an MNO may serve as an MPP. Other combined roles are alsopossible in various embodiments of the mobile payments system.

In some embodiments, clearing of all payment system transactionsdescribed herein may be in accordance with conventional practices.

In some embodiments an identifier for the account holder's SIM card maybe used instead of or in addition to the account holder's mobiletelephone number for purposes of identifying and/or indexing the accountholder with respect to one or more participants in the mobile paymentssystem.

The above depictions and descriptions of processes herein are notintended to imply a fixed order of performing the process steps. Rather,the process steps may be performed in any order that is practicable.

As used herein and in the appended claims, the term “transaction amount”refers to a dollar or other currency amount of a purchase transaction.

It should be noted that the block 108 as depicted in some of thedrawings represents both the data processing center/switching platformcomputer illustrated in FIG. 2 and the entity which operates thecomputer. In some embodiments, that entity may be a payment cardassociation (such as MasterCard International Inc., which is theassignee hereof) or a contractor retained by the payment cardassociation.

Any one or more of the computers referred to herein may be a servercomputer.

The term “computer” as used herein and in the appended claims includestwo or more computers that cooperate with each other, as well as asingle computer.

The term “processor” as used herein and in the appended claims includestwo or more processors that cooperate with each other, as well as asingle processor.

Although the present invention has been described in connection withspecific exemplary embodiments, it should be understood that variouschanges, substitutions, and alterations apparent to those skilled in theart can be made to the disclosed embodiments without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

1. A method comprising: receiving, in a first computer, from a secondcomputer, an information translation request, said request forrequesting translation of an account holder's mobile telephone numberinto the account holder's payment card account number, said requestrelated to a purchase transaction; the first computer accessing adatabase to identify a service provider for said account holder; thefirst computer transmitting a transaction acceptance request to a thirdcomputer, said third computer operated by or on behalf of said serviceprovider; the first computer receiving, from the third computer, anindication that the account holder has accepted the purchasetransaction; the first computer translating the account holder's mobiletelephone number into the account holder's payment card account number;and the first computer responding to said indication that the accountholder has accepted the purchase transaction by transmitting the accountholder's payment card account number to the second computer.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the second computer is operated by or onbehalf of an acquiring financial institution.
 3. The method of claim 1,further comprising: the first computer looking up a security codeassociated with the account holder's payment card account; and the firstcomputer transmitting the security code to the second computer.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: the first computer looking up anexpiration date associated with the account holder's payment cardaccount; and the first computer transmitting the expiration date to thesecond computer.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: a fourthcomputer receiving an authorization request from the second computer forthe purchase transaction, said fourth computer operated by or on behalfof a payment card association, the authorization request including theaccount holder's payment card account number; the fourth computer usingthe account holder's payment card account number to route theauthorization request to a fifth computer, the fifth computer operatedby or on behalf of an issuer of the account holder's payment cardaccount; the fourth computer receiving an authorization response for thepurchase transaction from the fifth computer; and the fourth computerrouting the authorization response to the second computer.
 6. The methodof claim 5, further comprising: the first computer receiving, from thesecond computer, confirmation that the purchase transaction has beencompleted; and the first computer transmitting, to the third computer,confirmation that the purchase transaction has been completed.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: the first computer receiving,from the second computer, confirmation that the purchase transaction hasbeen completed; and the first computer transmitting, to the thirdcomputer, confirmation that the purchase transaction has been completed.8. A method comprising: receiving, in a first computer, from a secondcomputer, a transaction request, the second computer operated by or onbehalf of a service provider, the service provider having an accountholder as a customer, the transaction request related to a purchasetransaction associated with the account holder, the transaction requestincluding: (a) first data that indicates the account holder's mobiletelephone number; (b) second data that indicates a merchant for thepurchase transaction, and (c) third data that indicates a transactionamount for the purchase transaction; the first computer responding tothe transaction request by: accessing a database to identify anacquiring financial institution for the merchant, said accessing basedon said second data; translating the account holder's mobile telephonenumber into the account holder's payment card account number; andtransmitting, to a third computer, (a) the account holder's payment cardaccount number, (b) said second data, and (c) said third data; saidthird computer operated by or on behalf of said acquiring financialinstitution.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein: the first computertransmits, to the third computer, a security code and an expiration datefor the account holder's payment card account.
 10. The method of claim8, further comprising: a fourth computer receiving an authorizationrequest from the third computer for the purchase transaction, saidfourth computer operated by or on behalf of a payment card association,the authorization request including the account holder's payment cardaccount number; the fourth computer using the account holder's paymentcard account number to route the authorization request to a fifthcomputer, the fifth computer operated by or on behalf of an issuer ofthe account holder's payment card account; the fourth computer receivingan authorization response for the purchase transaction from the fifthcomputer; and the fourth computer routing the authorization response tothe third computer.
 11. The method of claim 8, wherein said serviceprovider is a mobile payments platform service provider.
 12. Anapparatus comprising: a processor; and a memory in communication withthe processor, the memory storing program instructions, the programinstructions controlling the processor to perform operations as follows:receiving, from an acquirer computer, an information translationrequest, said request for requesting translation of an account holder'smobile telephone number into the account holder's payment card accountnumber, said request related to a purchase transaction; accessing adatabase to identify a service provider for said account holder;transmitting a transaction acceptance request to a service providercomputer, said service provider computer operated by or on behalf ofsaid service provider; receiving, from the service provider computer, anindication that the account holder has accepted the purchasetransaction; translating the account holder's mobile telephone numberinto the account holder's payment card account number; and responding tosaid indication that the account holder has accepted the purchasetransaction by transmitting the account holder's payment card accountnumber to the acquirer computer.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12, whereinthe program instructions further control the processor to: look up asecurity code associated with the account holder's payment card account;and transmit the security code to the acquirer computer.
 14. Theapparatus of claim 12, wherein the program instructions further controlthe processor to: look up an expiration date associated with the accountholder's payment card account; and transmit the expiration date to theacquirer computer.
 15. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the programinstructions further control the processor to: receive, from theacquirer computer, confirmation that the purchase transaction has beencompleted; and transmit, to the service provider computer, confirmationthat the purchase transaction has been completed.
 16. The apparatus ofclaim 12, wherein said service provider is a mobile payments platformservice provider.
 17. An apparatus comprising: a processor; and a memoryin communication with the processor, the memory storing programinstructions, the program instructions controlling the processor toperform operations as follows: receiving, from a service providercomputer, a transaction request, the service provider computer operatedby or on behalf of a service provider, the service provider having anaccount holder as a customer, the transaction request related to apurchase transaction associated with the account holder, the transactionrequest including: (a) first data that indicates the account holder'smobile telephone number; (b) second data that indicates a merchant forthe purchase transaction, and (c) third data that indicates atransaction amount for the purchase transaction; and responding to thetransaction request by: accessing a database to identify an acquiringfinancial institution for the merchant, said accessing based on saidsecond data; translating the account holder's mobile telephone numberinto the account holder's payment card account number; and transmitting,to an acquirer computer, (a) the account holder's payment card accountnumber, (b) said second data, and (c) said third data; said thirdcomputer operated by or on behalf of said acquiring financialinstitution; said acquirer computer operated by or on behalf of saidacquiring financial institution.
 18. The apparatus of claim 17, whereinthe program instructions further control the processor to: look up asecurity code associated with the account holder's payment card account;and transmit the security code to the acquirer computer.
 19. Theapparatus of claim 17, wherein the service provider is a mobile paymentsplatform provider.